Category Archives: recipes

Bake, Bike, Grill

These gorgeous Spring days energize me.  Yesterday I walked and ran and before I knew it I’d covered 10 miles!  150 miles? I got this.

Good food energizes me as well.

Corn ‘n Beans Bread Muffins

Makes 12  Pre-heat oven to 365*

  • 1 c. white whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 c. cornmeal
  • 4 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 eggs
  • 1 c. milk
  • 1/4 c. applesauce
Mix dry. Mix wet (if your applesauce is chunky like mine was then puree first in the food processor).  Add dry to wet.  Let sit while you prepare the beans.
  • 2 c. white beans
  • 2 T. olive oil
  • 1/2 chopped onion
  • lots of fresh ground pepper
  • red chili flakes
  • minced chives
  • minced fennel fronds
Sauté onions in oil over medium heat.  When onions turn translucent add beans.  Continue to stir and cook for a few minutes so beans soak up the onion-oil flavor and begin to brown.  Add herbs and spices, turn off burner, stir thoroughly.
Add beans to batter and mix.  Butter 12 muffin cups, fill, and bake for 30-40 minutes.  The muffins are done when the tops are slightly brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
A meal in a muffin!  These guys are dense, moist (why do so many women have a problem with that word?  I kinda like it. Moist.), and quite hearty.
I made these up for a potluck dinner party we attended on Saturday night but there ended up being loads of food and I got to bring at least half a dozen home with me.  Love leftovers.
The muffins are going to go great with all the grilled squash and asparagus in the fridge.
Um, yeah, that’s a mountain of veg to feed two people.  Leftovers. 🙂
I tossed the veggies in balsamic vinegar, a wee bit of olive oil, fresh ground pepper, and loads of rosemary.
Did you know that adding rosemary to your marinade can greatly reduce the risk of carcinogens in your grilled meat?  Vegetables don’t create carcinogens when grilled  like meat does, I added rosemary because I love the flavor.   If you grill meat consider cultivating a love for rosemary grilled meat.
After my 10 miles yesterday I am feeling less than motivated to hit the pavement today.  My exercise for the day may be biking back and forth to the clinic a few times and a mat Pilates class.
Thanks to Song for turning me onto my current favorite band, The Weepies!  They are perfect for playing in the clinic!  Here’s one of my favorites for your Monday morning listening pleasure.

14 Comments

Filed under baking, goals, recipes, running

Double Date

Man, that girl Kath is on to something.

Around noon yesterday my body said “run” but my tummy said “lunch” so I chomped two dates and ran like the wind.  Seriously, I felt like I had cartoon legs as I ran my sprints, the kind that go all the way around like a wheel.

Then again, the double Americano may have had something to do with it…

Caffeine and (natural) sugar, what a combo. 🙂

In any case, I know it’s a good run when I am singing out loud rather than grumbling under my breath.

Yesterday’s 5 miler brought my March running milage up to a total of 40.3o!  My goal was 10 miles a week and while I didn’t make that every week I averaged it for the month so I am very happy.  Goal accomplished!

We had a double date of another sort last night.  A delicious dinner with the always lovely Matt + Kath followed by my final walk for the month of March.

Walking milage for March: 100.91!

Goal accomplished!

Tate makes fun of me for being a procrastinator and he was to jab when we walked out the door at 8:30pm on March 31st to reach my milage goal .

But I get it done, even if it’s last minute. 🙂

As you may have noticed, I’ve been on a total sprout kick lately.  I search through my cupboards on a daily basis looking for new and fun things to SPROUT.

Quinoa sprouts are similar to alfalfa (the common sprout) but a little less grassy.

Mung bean are sweet and watery, like a cucumber, and maybe my favorite.

Chickpeas are super snacky when sprouted, crunchy and fresh.

And sprouted wheat berries are perfect for turning into something gooey and delicious.

[KERF]

I used to buy this amazing carrot-raisin sprouted wheat bread from Whole Foods regularly but I forgot about it for the last 5 years or so.  I am such a DIYer that when I realized I could make it myself I got to sprouting the wheat right away.

I started by soaking 3 cups of wheat berries over night in enough water to cover them.

I used my awesome sprouting lids to rinse and drain the berries for three days.

Once the berries sprouted tails, I knew they were ready…and I was ready for bread!

I processed the sprouts in the food processor, in two batches, along with 4 dates and 1/2 cup of raisins.

To this “dough” I added 3 shredded carrots, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, and 1 tsp of yeast proofed in 3 tablespoons warm water.

At this point my hands got too messy for pictures because the only way this dough was getting mixed was to dig in.

Once throughly mixed (it was super sticky) I formed a ball in the bowl, covered it in plastic, and let rise rest for about 2 hours.  Despite the addition of yeast, this dough-ball was so dense it wasn’t going anywhere.  Next time I might leave the yeast out.

After forming the dough into two “loaves” I set it on my pre-heated pizza stone in a 350 degree oven.

After an hour

[KERF]

After an hour and a half I pronounced it done.  It was still super gooey, which is what I was going for, and had a nice crunchy crust. I am thrilled with the results except it fell apart really easily, next time I think I’ll make individual little loaves, which will add more yummy crust per serving and will cut down on baking time.  And by next time I mean next week. 🙂

Whole grain goodness.

I wasn’t actually planning on blogging about this recipe yet but after a few requests I was happy to share.  If you are interested I will write another post next time I make it with more step-by-step pictures. Also, I used this recipe as a guideline.

If the thought of a 3 day process turns you off, even though it’s not really much actual work time, go buy this bread at Whole Foods or your local health food store.  It is kept in the freezer or fridge section.

BTW, I am horrible at April Fool’s jokes.  I am gullible and miserable at lying.  I just want to get through this day prank-free.  Have you pulled any jokes off today?  Or gotten pranked?

20 Comments

Filed under baking, food, goals, recipes, running